New Book by VCUarts Qatar Professor on the Music from the Films of Joel and Ethan Coen

Dr. Jesse Ulmer, Associate Professor of English and American Film from our Liberal Arts & Sciences department, is the author of a new book, titled, “The Coen Brothers and American Roots Music”

His book is devoted to examining and providing a full critical accounting of the valuable and rich legacy of the music from the films of Joel and Ethan Coen, who, over the course of more than three decades, have produced some of the most memorable and influential American roots music soundtracks in the history of film, from the rapid-fire banjo picking and quirky yodeling of “Raising Arizona” (1987), to the deep, stirring folk songs of “Inside Llewyn Davis” (2013), and many more.

No other musical forms have done more to define American music than roots, and no other filmmakers have presented American roots music on screen as compellingly, as humorously, or as poetically, as the filmmaker Coen brothers.

Why have the brothers turned to this genre again and again throughout their career? What is the Coens’ creative process in terms of incorporating roots music into their films? What is special or significant about the Coens’ use of roots music in the context of American film and culture? What are the various functions, critical and aesthetic, that roots music plays in the films themselves?

Jesse’s book addresses these questions and many more.

“The Coen Brothers and American Roots Music” can be purchased from Amazon, mcfarlandbooks.com, and will soon be available from our Library and Bookstore.